The Road to Freedom: Healing from Your Hurts, Hang-Ups, and Habits

Giving oneself to Jesus’s love can help overcome any suffering, according to Baker (Celebrate Recovery 365 Daily Devotional), pastor and national director of Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program for addressing “hurt, pain or addiction of any kind.” Baker went through a rebellious phase during high school when his father, John—a clergymember at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.—refused to address his alcoholism and separated from his wife. To mend the family, Baker’s parents proposed a 12-step program run through the church, modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous and Jesus’s Beatitudes; Celebrate Recovery is the result. Baker spends much of the book touting his father’s program and providing stories of miraculous recovery. There’s a lot of common wisdom here: admitting one has a problem and needs help, dealing with problems in small increments of change, and recognizing how helping others can work to help oneself. Some of Baker’s examples, however, such as using the angst of dealing with paperwork as evidence that “pain has purpose,” may fall flat for readers wrestling with serious issues. Despite this, Baker offers much to embolden and hearten conservative Christians looking for help through addiction or suffering. (June)